The guide to any successful venture is a set-goal. It is this that gives one the direction to achievement. Once a goal is in place, then one must get educated on how to get there. Yes, one must acquire knowledge on how to do it. Brethren, we are here talking about the purpose of this Christian life, which many have missed and have brought on stage, a confusion of a kind, the world has never seen since the wake of mankind.The world right now is packed with all sorts of traditions, purported to be done in worship of the only one creator God. Why the many and yet that God is one? Why should He teach different things about Himself and what He expects those who worship him to do? He explicitly says, “ He is not a God of confusion, but of peace and order-1 Cor.14:33”. Why then the many differing beliefs of Him? Is He denying Himself, in that He now seems to be giving differing information about himself and his life, thus, confusing people? Can’t be. So what? “See that no one deludes you with beguiling speech…, against the knowledge of God’s mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge-Col.2:4,2-3”. Since we need a goal to guide us in understanding our message, after which we need education on how to achieve it, and God has here told us that, its only in Christ that this education can be got, let’s humbly listen to Him and learn so that we may achieve, for He says, “ I am the way, the life and truth. No one can come to the father except by me-John.14:6”. We also know that, Christ is the word of God. So please, let’s take our bibles and follow what Christ will say, so that we may with confidence pursue our goal.
WHY CHRISTIANITY (GOD-WORSHIP)?
Hope I am talking to knowledgeable people brethren and so, I will be brief where necessary (for details on this, read our message, “Man’s creation process”). After the lie of Eden, and after God sent his messenger-Christ, and after people listened to him, those who believed Him accepted to change, thus putting themselves back into God’s hands for further creation. What is it that God is creating in man right now, which is also the purpose of Christianity, and our set-goal? To those who believed His message, Christ gave them a condition for following him which is, “….denying self-Mat.16:24”. Why? Because we inherited a lie, thus straying from the meant-course of our lives-Jerm.16:19, which also made God to stop creating us. It is this lie which formed the self (the today’s life-1John.2:17). So now, what is God doing, which makes one a God-worshipper (a Christian)? “I will take out of your flesh, the heart of stone (rebellious) and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes….Ezek.36:26-27”. Yes, for those who have resolved to worship God, their goal is to allow God to delete the lie first, after which, He instills the truth (writing his laws in our hearts). In other words, the purpose of God-worship, of leading a Christian life is to develop God’s mind and character. This is our goal brethren, our guide to everything that we do in our course. Whatever we talk, or think, desire or do, it should be leading us to developing God’s mind and character, otherwise, we are not worshipping God, for He puts further emphasis saying, “ put off, that old nature……and put on the new nature-Eph.4:22-24”. Since, this is all there is for us to do in this course, that is, acquiring God’s knowledge from his written word, by which, when obeyed, we form that behaviour(righteous character), then in everything, our concern should be, “ Is this thing am doing(whatever thing) taking me a step nearer to thinking and doing like God?”This i say because, men of “…endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the divine training-1Tim.1:4”, are with us here, unsettling those of uninformed minds, a people who are, “…puffed up with conceit, knowing nothing, having morbid craving for controversy, and for disputes about words….1Tim.6:4-5”. But now that we are already alerted, let’s now get to business. We now have our goal that of developing God’s mind and character. Let’s get educated on how to pursue it please.
THE LESSON BEHIND PENTECOST.
What is in Pentecost observance that adds to our mind and character development? Yes, why do we observe the Pentecost? We all know that the Israel’s slavery in Egypt and its afterwards deliverance, and journey to Canaan is a type of our right now Christian course, for, “Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instructions…….not to desire as they did….1 Cor.10:11,6”. As we began to see, God is through Jesus Christ delivering us from the slavery of sin to the freedom of true life. How is He doing it (our informative message, “the spirit of God’s holidays”, will explain more)? In His fore wisdom, when God was creating man, He knew of a possibility of man being deceived. So, He also fore planned a redemption plan, which is what the seven God’s holidays are about. Had man not sinned, these holidays would not be there. We will only be keeping the weekly Sabbath, a reminder of the soon coming kingdom. But now that, man sinned, then God began through these holidays to teach, and continually remind man of what it will take for him to be saved. The wages of sin is death, therefore, since man has sinned, a death must occur to save him (read our message, “the 2018 Passover” for details please). The Passover is the beginning step towards man’s deliverance from sin-Lev.23:4-5. Remember, sin is that wrong education from the lie of Eden, which we must put off. We therefore must die to it (stop using it in whatever we do). In the same way it took time for us to learn and build habits from that lie, it will also take time for us to learn and develop new habits from the true knowledge. This is the second step in God’s redemption plan for man which is signified by the feast of unleavened bread-Lev.23:5. Even though we have resolved to do so, we find that it is not in our power to remove the mind and habits we have formed as a result of accepting the lie. This brings us to the third step in God’s plan, the feast of Pentecost, which is our major concern in this message. Tune in please.
THE FIRST PENTECOST
After partaking of the Passover, and leaving Egypt with unleavened bread, God began to teach the Israelites, what it will take for them to be fully delivered. Though they had physically left Egypt, He showed them how, they still harbour the bad life which made the Egyptians to treat them as slaves, and how they must stop living it. There was no way they could do it if they don’t know what to put in its place. So, even though they physically removed and refrained from leaven, for those seven days, God showed them that there was more to it. Remember, we are not addressing Israelites now. God is talking to you and me. We should therefore read this message in a heart-searchful way, and see whether we are truly in the course. It was on the day of Pentecost when the congregation of Israel encamped around Mount Sinai. It is also here that God introduced them to the real meaning of unleavened bread. Listen please.“ You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice…….you shall be my own possession among all peoples… and you shall be to me a kingdom….Exod.19:4-6”. This is exactly what we began to see. Putting of the lie, and putting on the truth. Even though they refrained from eating leaven, it was not possible to remove the thoughts and habits of the Egyptian lifestyle before God can tell them what to put on, which is the laws He gave them at Mt. Sinai. It is at this point that the real unleavening began. What are we saying here? The feast of Pentecost is symbolic of the beginning of godly life, not the end. Though the unleavened bread comes first, it can’t be done until the Pentecost is in place. The feast of unleavened bread is the theory of what should be done practically. Once the theory is in place, then, there is need for facilities to apply the practical. Just like, before baptism, we must hear the message, accept it after which, we resolve in our hearts to make that knowledge our lives. It is after baptism that the practical living begins. It was from this day of Pentecost onwards that the strict adherence to the law began, so strict that, any violation was met by death through stoning. So here, they began to learn and grow in the life that they will live in the Promised Land. Yes, they begun the real unleavening of their lives. That made them very different from the nations, for of it, it’s written, “Keep them and do them; for they are your wisdom and knowledge in the sight of the peoples, who will wonder saying, ‘surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people-Deut.4:6”. Brethren, understand please. This first Pentecost was the beginning point of Israel, restricting itself to serious learning and living in God’s way, by the directives of the law. Did this mean they had entered the Promised Land? No. It marked the beginning of the preparation to entering. For forty years, they were in the wilderness learning and practicing, and lastly, they entered. This Pentecost is therefore the third step in God’s redemption plan, which involves the power to put off the old life and put on the new, which as we saw, takes time- yes, is gradual. How does it apply to us today?
THE BEGINNING OF GODLY WORSHIP
In the same way the Israelites were rescued from slavery in Egypt, those of us who have accepted God’s life have been “delivered from the dominion of darkness (the lie of Eden) and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved son-col.1:13”. Yes, we have been introduced to the true life which we now must learn to live by. How will we do it? Christ came into the world, and fore ran the whole course that we will go through before we are fully delivered. After going through the full course, He told us, “ I have given you an example that you may do as I did-John.13:15”. This being the case, we should therefore learn from what he did and went through, which is exactly what we will do and go through, if at all we will succeed in this course. After Christ was born in this physical life, he became, not the born son, but, “the begotten son of God-Heb.1:5”. We all know that, God uses the physical to explain the spiritual, for He says, “….his invisible nature, namely, His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made-rom.1:20”. Taking this to our issue of concern, that is, our being spiritually ripe and harvested, our physical birth and growth has every inch of what we need to know concerning the spiritual. When a child is impregnated in the womb, it is not born then. Its life begins there. It takes nine months of growth in the womb, after which it is ejected(born) out of the womb into the world. It is at birth that the full process is complete. While in the womb, we don’t know exactly what kind of a child we will have, but we know that it is a child. With that, let’s come back to Jesus, our example. In all his physical life, He wasn’t a born child of God, but a begotten( in the womb) son. He became a born son, when, “….He resurrected from the dead( when He became a spirit being)-Rom.1:4”, fulfilling what he himself said that, “…which is born of the spirit is spirit-John.3:6”. Brethren, if we will understand what stage it is in this redemption (harvest) plan which the Pentecost signifies, we must go by this birth process. So now, is Pentecost the birth time( resurrection, or change from physical to spiritual), or the impregnation time( the beginning of growth in the womb)? What was Christ doing in this physical life after receiving the Holy Spirit? “ …..he was learning obedience( developing character) through what He suffered-Heb.5:8”. See details in Rom.5:3-4 please. Yes, because, to develop a character takes practice, for, “…. discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later, it yields the peaceful fruits of righteousness (godly character) to those who are being trained by it-Heb.12:11”,He had to discipline himself by rejecting the fleshly pulls, and by that persistent obedience to God as He rejects the flesh, godliness was formed in him. Don’t forget our goal please, that of developing God’s mind and character, because this is what Christ did in this physical life, rejecting Satan’s appeals through the fleshly passions, and obeying God through His word. Where does it begin? Immediately after baptism and after receiving the Holy Spirit, Christ was taken into the wilderness and the obedience- training began_Mat.4:4-11. In the same way a physical birth process doesn’t begin until an impregnation takes place, so also, the spiritual one doesn’t begin until, the impregnation takes place, which is the reception of the Holy Spirit. In the same way a physical child in the womb is a child of its parents, though not yet born, so also those who receive the holy spirit become children of God-Rom.14,9”. Where does this spiritual then begin? It begins when one receives the holy spirit. In the same way the Israelites training in obeying God began when they were given the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai on the day of Pentecost, so also, the Christian training begins when one receives the holy spirit, which is the spiritual impregnation( our message, “born to salvation” has more), in the spiritual womb( Christ-the word-Rom.6:3). The first such spiritual reception (impregnation) occurred exactly on the day of Pentecost, for, “When the day of Pentecost came….they were all filled with the holy spirit-Acts.2:1-4”. Brethren, this is when God’s mind and character (our Christian goal) began to develop in the apostles lives, and it is the case with everyone whom God calls into His church. Were they born-spirit beings after receiving the spirit? Not at all. They were begotten children, but in the spiritual womb. This is why our Lord says, “ Though we are children of God, it does not as yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when he appears, we shall be like him-1John.3:2”. Why doesn’t it appear? Because we are in a spiritual womb, where we can’t tell whether a boy or a girl, a lame or a sound one, until one is born. Why should we be certain that we will be like Christ? Because he fore ran the course, showing us what we will become once perfected (harvested). What do we say then?
RESURRECTION NOT ON PENTECOST
I repeat. Beware of wolves in sheep’s skin. Beware of a people who don’t have this goal, yes- whose aim is not to develop God’s righteousness and holiness, without which, no one will see God. Watch out on the blind, lest you follow them and land in a ditch, for there are so many, who are not interested in walking in the light,guided by the word. Why the caution brethren? Let’s get it please if we are given to understand. After Christ resurrected from the dead, He was a spirit being, a fully ripe sheaf, and it necessitated that He be harvested. This is why, “…he ascended to the father who is our father, to God our God, to be accepted-John.20:17”. We all agree that, He is this sheaf wave, which the priest waved before the Lord the morrow after the Sabbath-Lev.23:10-11. The order in which all human beings will be harvested like Christ is clearly shown, for our Lord says, “…..so shall all be made alive. How? Get it please. But each in his own order: Christ is the first fruit, then those who are his when he comes (time of resurrection or change-John.5:28), then comes the end-1Cor.15:22-24”. Christ is the only human being who went the whole course, becoming what God wants to make all men, for remember, he wants a man who is like him- a spirit being-Gen.1:26. This is why He is the first fruit. His being harvested did not happen on the day of Pentecost. Mark this well brethren. He is that blameless lamb, and the first sheaf to ripen-Lev.23:10,12. But fifty days later, on the day of Pentecost, what is happening here is not a harvest as so many ignorant preachers imagine, being careless with scripture. Here we don’t see any sheaf( harvested) but rather, the product of the harvest. Here it is not talking about harvest, but offerings-Lev.23:17-19.
DIFFERENT ACCEPTANCE
Whoever has the spirit of understanding will agree with me that there is no harvest on the day of Pentecost, because no one is turned spirit there, though there is some presentation and acceptance before God. What is it about?“ It is your sins which have made a separation between you and God-Isa.59:2”. God’s message through Jesus Christ is pleading with all mankind to “…be reconciled to God-2 Cor.5:20”. As we saw, for the blocking curtain to be removed, a death must occur. This is why the redemption plan begins with the Passover, the shedding of blood by which, “…our former sins are passed over-Rom.3:25”. So, “…by the blood of Christ, our Passover lamb, we are justified (made right with, accepted, reconciled to God)-Rom.5:9”. Are we there friends? The acceptance during the day of Pentecost is not a harvest, but a restoration of those human beings who accept Christ.They are being restored to the foundation of life where God continues with his creation work in them-Eph.2:10; 1 Cor.3:9. They are being presented to God as, “… living sacrifices, acceptable to him-rom.12:1-2”. This is why, the two loaves waved here on the Pentecost have leaven-Lev.23:17. We know leaven to signify sin. What does this mean? The two loaves represent, not spirit born people, but rather, spirit begotten ones, who still have much sin to overcome. Though by the blood of Jesus, our past sins are wiped out, and we are now accepted by God, “…for anyone who fears God is accepted by Him-Acts.10:35”, we are still flesh and blood; we have just been begotten and have begun the same course that Christ went through during his physical life, which will warrant overcoming to the end if one will truly be lastly harvested after becoming a spirit being-Heb.3:6,14. The two loaves signify sinful men who are yet to be fully cleansed, but even them, through Christ’s blood, they are justified( accepted after reconciliation-2Cor.5:19) before God, and given “…adoption as sons-gal.6:5-6”. Therefore brethren, this acceptance of the two leavened-loaves is very different from that of the sheaf wave. The sheaf-Christ is an acceptance of being harvested( first fruit), while the two loaves( the church) is an acceptance of being planted, germinated and going through the growth-process. Yes, our goal of developing Godly mind and character begins on the day of Pentecost( the impregnation). Pentecost therefore doesn’t signify any harvest, nor a resurrection, neither any kind of completion, but a beginning of the birth process. For in the same way, once an impregnation has taken place, a gestation period of nine months must continue, so also, once we receive the holy spirit( when one is baptized into Christ), a spiritual gestation period continues the rest of our physical lives, for we are commanded to, from that point, “…. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord-2Pet.3:18; Yes, …..Long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation- 1pet.2:2”. It is those who will in this physical life, devote themselves to this goal, putting on the mind of God by which we will know what to do in everything, through which, we will also develop God’s righteous character, who will be harvested-spirit beings like Jesus was, in that last trumpet, when the resurrection like that of Christ-Rom.8:11, or a change from this physical will occur. When will this be (our message, “The trumpets”, has details)? Let no one deceive you with empty words. There is nowhere in the whole bible where Pentecost shows anything to do with harvest, but rather, the planting (reception of the holy spirit), and growing of that which is planted (development of Godly mind and character), which will not be harvested until it is ripe (perfected, by qualifying to live like God), for it is “ he who overcomes who will inherit the kingdom-Rev.3:21”. Yes, we of the church are the first fruits, because we are the first to be planted (called), and so, of a truth, we will be the first to ripen; therefore, the first to be harvested. Pentecost is this planting, not harvesting, for, “…of his own will he brought us forth that we may be a kind of first fruits of his creation-James.1:17”. We have been send by our Lord, Jesus Christ to remind Leodiceans of this unchanging truth, and warn them of the many misleading voices from the like of Tkach senior, who claimed to be getting deeper revelation of what Christ told through Armstrong, only to lastly turn the church back to trinity. We are seeing his descendants in the so called churches of God perpetrating his work. Christ is through this message, warning Leodicea, and this is to those who know his voice. In all our messages, we don’t talk about Armstrong. Do you know why? We learned this much of the bible from Christ, through him as a vessel. But he never anywhere taught us about himself, but rather about Christ. So we received the message, and clung to one who sent him,i.e, Christ. Armstrong introduced us to the bible. The holy spirit, is furthering that introduction in us through our daily prayers and bible studies, for, it is written, “ and they shall all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me-John.6:45”. Based on what these groups are teaching and doing, while claiming to perpetrate the work Christ did through Armstrong, it proves beyond reasonable doubts that, they never understood his message. For if they did, they would be quoting the bible not him. But as it is, they missed the mark and, “..they serve and worship the creature rather than the creator-Rom.1:25”. Let whoever is given to understand get what am saying please. He who overcomes, I will give to sit with me on my throne-Rev.3:21. The grace of our Lord and his spirit of understanding be multiplied to as many as are of this fold.All this is coming to you from your Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ, through His sent-servant, THEENDTIME CHURCH OF GOD